Four Performance Texts

Performance studies is a capacious, interdisciplinary field that can traverse theater, visual art, music, literature, and dance, as well as aspects of lived life that are not necessarily considered art: ritual, sporting event, political protest. It is time-based, and thus for the most part, ephemeral. An artist may stage, orchestrate, or frame a set of behaviors, actions, events or even just intentions – they may or may not be the actual performer. Because of the embodied nature of performance, aspects of identity such as race, gender, and sexuality often play a visible role in the dynamics of the work. The documentation of performance can exist in a wide range of formats, and usually endure for much longer than the performance itself. In this course, we will engage a “deep dive” on four distinct books that document performance. We will consider them both as records of the past, as well as a vehicle loaded with possibility for future actions – and we will perform some of those actions ourselves. This course will be a combination of the study of texts, the activation of texts, and the creation of texts. Individual and group work is expected.